Dynamo reach Conference Finals

15 Mar 2013 | Dennis Mende

While Dynamo Moscow decided the Gagarin Cup playoff series against city neighbours CSKA Moscow, outsiders Dinamo Riga beat Amur Khabarovks in the first game of the Nadezhda Cup finals.

Gagarin Cup - Western Conference semifinals

CSKA Moscow (2) - Dynamo Moscow (3) 0-2

With the knowledge that they needed a win home side CSKA started aggressively and were the better team in the first period but failed to score a goal despite all their chances, including a 5 on 3 power play. Starting with the middle period though Dynamo took over the initiative and had several major scoring opportunities before the second intermission while CSKA were desperately trying to defend the 0-0. Guests Dynamo continued with their pressure during the third period and were rewarded at 51:34 when a shot by Alexei Sopin was deflected before Filip Novak brought his team in front with the rebound. CSKA now tried everything to force overtime but they were not able to do so anymore. Instead Jakub Petruzalek made everything clearfor Dynamo with an empty netter at 59:35 to give Dynamo the entry to the Western Conference final series where they will face regular season winners SKA St. Petersburg.

Dynamo won the series 4-1

Nadezhda Cup finals:

Dinamo Riga (W14) - Amur Khabarovsk (E11) 2-0

In front of 4,760 fans Latvian outsiders Dinamo Riga earned the lead in game #1 of the Nadezhda Cup final series against Amur Khabarovsk. Miks Indrasis and Jamie Johnson pathed the way for the hosts with their goals until 25:04. For the rest of the match Amur played ice hockey into one direction and they had best scoring opportunities. During the last two and a half minutes Amur pulled out their goalie for an additional skater but failed to force the equalizer. With his 40 saves Mikael Tellqvist not only earned a shutout but he was also the key player for Dinamo's win.

Dinamo lead 1-0 in the series